Ohio State’s most prolific scoring quarter in the Jim Tressel era sparked the Buckeyes to a pathetically easy rout of Northwestern before 105,178 sun worshippers at the ‘Shoe.
OSU, setting sail towards a third consecutive Big Ten title, continued the momentum from a tremendous second-half effort against Washington last weekend. The Wildcats, coming off an embarrassing loss to Duke, were hampered by the absence of runningback Tyrell Sutton due to a gimpy ankle. But four or five more Tyrell Sutton’s wouldn’t have stemmed the tide. At times, it appeared the Wildcat secondary was made up of former pitcher Don Sutton, basketball coach Eddie Sutton and “Gomer Pyle’s” Sergeant Carter, Frank Sutton. And Frank’s been dead for more than thirty years.
The Bucks wasted little time denting the scoreboard. From his own 36, Chris Wells gained two, then Ray Small circled the left side on a reverse. Corner Deante Battle stripped the ball away, but Steve Rehring hustled downfield to recover at the Wildcat 42. Proving the axiom that air travel is safer than ground travel, Todd Boeckman came out of a great fake to Wells and fired deep for Brian Robiskie, who went up and snagged the football for a 42-yard score. Ryan Pretorious began a busy afternoon with the point-after kick, and just 1:10 in the Scarlet and Gray led 7-0.
Quarterback C.J. Bacher almost had his first pass of the day picked by Malcolm Jenkins, then was buried by James Laurinaitis on a blitz two plays later. The timing was superb- ABC had just introduced the defensive lineup by utilizing James’ dad, Joe, decked out in “Animal” regalia. Stefan Demos got off a poor 18-yard punt and the Bucks were in business at the Northwestern 36. Two Chris Wells carries netted 8, then once more it was Boeckman-to-Robiskie for a 28-yard score. The game wasn’t even four minutes old and the hosts sported a 14-0 advantage.
Sherrick McManis brought the ensuing kickoff out to his 14 where he was tattooed by Tyler Moeller and Jamario O’Neal. To rub dirt in the wound, a block-in-the-back call had the Wildcats retreating to their 7. The OSU "D" held firm, and a nice 22-yard punt return by Ray Small set the Bucks up at Northwestern’s 31. A diving 16-yard reception by Brian Hartline moved the sticks on third down. From the 14, Mo Wells made an immediate cutback on a pitchout and danced his way down to the 3 behind a great block from Jake Ballard. I would still love to see what more Mo could contribute offensively if the offensive brain trusts would quit trying to pound him between the tackles so much. Having put his team on the doorstep, it was only fitting that Mo would get a chance to finish things off, which he did with a 3-yard dive into the endzone behind super blocks from Rory Nicol, Ben Person and "Tank" Whaley. Pretorious’ boot was true and the lead extended to 21-0.
The Purple and White went from the frying pan into the fire on their next series. After finally securing a first down, C.J. Bacher drifted to his left, looking for someone open. Safety Anderson Russell had a clear blindside shot and knocked the football free. It rolled on the field turf for several seconds before defensive end Vernon Gholston pounced on it at the 21 and lumbered into the endzone for his first career touchdown. And as Vernon admitted afterwards, when we say "first career touchdown", that means every level he’s played at. It may be just a small thing, but as Gholston corralled the pigskin and headed to paydirt, it was nice to see the other defenders who had swarmed to the scene- Nader Abdallah, Marcus Freeman and Chimdi Chekwa - all immediately turn back upfield to find someone to block, although in this case there was no Wildcat in the vicinity. It was the defense’s first score since Brandon Mitchell returned an interception for a score in the rout at Northwestern last season. There was still 5:26 to go in the opening period and the Buckeye lead swelled to 28-0.
Sherrick McManis brought the kickoff back to his 16 before being pelted by Brian Rolle, who you can count on for at least one brutal special teams hit each week it seems. It looked like another quick 3-and-out was in the offing before a lame pass interference flag on Malcolm Jenkins gave the Wildcats a gift first down. Bacher navigated the offense out to its 42, but Robert Rose batted down a screen pass and then on 3rd-and-12 Bacher, with Laurinaitis bearing down on him, floated one over Kim Thompson’s head right into the hands of nickelback Chimdi Chekwa. The native Floridian brought his first career pick back to the Wildcat 48, and Todd Boeckman looked for instant points with another deep throw to Robiskie. This time, however, the pass was underthrown and McManis laid out to make a nifty pick at his own 2.
Northwestern managed one first down, then Vernon Gholston blew in to drop Bacher for a 7-yard sack to torpedo the drive. The ‘Cats let the clock expire and OSU earned a healthy ovation from the home folks for the biggest scoring quarter they’ve produced under Jim Tressel. The memory of three sluggish first halves seemed to drift away as the teams changed ends of the field with Ohio State in front 28-zip.
Ray Small brought Stefan Demos’ punt back 13 yards to the Wildcat 38, aided in large measure by a crushing block on David Oredugba by…anyone?"anyone?" right, Brian Rolle. After a timeout to tend to Oredugba, Chris Wells pounded for 9, and then 10 more to the ‘Cats 19. Boeckman rolled right and lobbed one for Robiskie in the endzone. Sherrick McManis was a step late coming over and Robo pulled it in for six, fattening the Buckeye lead to 35-0.
McManis’ troubles worsened on the ensuing kickoff. First he almost collided with Brad Phillips trying to field the kickoff, then Jamario O’Neal absolutely blasted him on the return, sending the sophomore corner off with a concussion. The defense was relentless- Todd Denlinger beat a double-team to drag Eric Peterman down for a loss of 4, then Omar Conteh lost two more as Larry Grant belted him. Demos could only muster a 25-yard punt and the Buckeye offense revved up from the Northwestern 43.
Taurian Washington moved the chains with a catch at the sideline, but the Wildcat defense forced a 4th-and-8 from their 30. Passing on a field goal attempt, the Bucks went for it and came up empty as John Gill sat on Boeckman for a loss of 8.
Bacher couldn’t get anything going offensively, and after a Demos punt the Buckeyes set up shop at their own 24. The law firm of "Wells and Wells" worked the ball out to the 41, where Rory Nicol converted a first down with a 7-yard catch. Mo Wells broke off an 11-yard chunk of yardage on a screen, then two plays later from the 36 Chris Wells got a ferocious block from fullback Tyler "Tank" Whaley and cruised over the left side to the house, widening the margin to 42-0.
Northwestern, just as Akron and Washington did, thought they could make hay with a horizontal passing game against OSU’s defense, but two screens fell incomplete. Vernon Gholston continued his monster day with a huge 17-yard sack of Bacher, forcing another Wildcat punt, which Hartline brought back to the ‘Cats’ 46.
The Bucks got a gift 15 thanks to late hit on Maurice Wells and drove down to the 19, where it was 4th-and-1. Rob Schoenhoft was set for a sneak but center Jim Cordle rocked out of his stance early, costing the Buckeyes 5 yards. Pretorious trotted on and drilled home a 40-yard field goal, making it 45-0, which is where things stood at the half. Ohio State had operated 8 offensive drives in the first half, and incredibly 6 of them had started in Northwestern territory. And out of 6 offensive possessions that had resulted in points for the Buckeyes, all but one had taken less than 1:33 off the clock. Until Saturday, I was convinced that Minnesota was the worst team in the Big Ten. Now I’m not so sure.
At halftime, athletic director Gene Smith and men’s hoops coach Thad Matta joined Michael Redd and Scoonie Penn on the field. Of course, since the NCAA stripped away all semblances of the Final Four and other achievements that Penn and Redd were instrumental parts of, the recitation of their highlights by the P.A. announcer was obviously lacking. Then to cap off the awkward ceremony, Penn and Redd were presented with basketballs signed by
the Buckeye basketball team. No one mentioned whether it was last year’s team that signed or this year’s squad, which would fetch a lot less on E-Bay. It was a nice touch to recognize two players that were a joy to watch on the hardwood, but trying to dance around the now "phantom" Final Four appearance is ridiculous. The games-and memories-happened, whether Ohio State, the NCAA or anyone else wants to pretend they didn’t. Penn and Redd deserved something different.
Anyone in the sellout crowd at Ohio Stadium that told themselves they’d stick around to see if the Bucks would pitch a shutout were sorely disappointed right off the bat in the third quarter. Stephen Simmons fielded the second-half kickoff at his own 1, bounced off a teammate at the
16, avoided Eugene Clifford and took off up the east sideline. Kicker Ryan Pretorious got juked off-balance and Simmons stiffarmed him to the ground, then outraced a host of red jerseys to the endzone to get the Wildcats on the board at 45-7.
OSU answered right back, although Chris Wells threw a scare into everyone by hobbling off the field after a 6-yard run to get to 100 yards even for the day. C-Dub told reporters afterward that he could’ve gone back in if need be, but with Brandon Saine out for next week and the coaching staff seemingly intent on redshirting Daniel Herron, Chris hopefully is good to go, although an ouchy ankle on that Metrodome turf makes you wonder a bit.
A pair of Mo Wells runs gained a first down, but then he lost a yard on the ground and four more on a screen pass. With a 3rd-and-15 on the Northwestern 48, Ray Small went deep down the left side. The corner let him go but the safety was occupied with Brian Hartline and couldn’t recover as Todd Boeckman airmailed a perfect strike to Small for his fourth touchdown pass of the day, bumping the Buckeye lead to 52-7.
Marcus Freeman made his presence known on the next drive, separating Kim Thompson from the ball on an attempted screen, then dropping C.J. Bacher for a loss of 8 more. Stefan Demos continued his less than stellar day with a 35-yard punt, giving OSU first down at the Wildcat 49.
Antonio Henton entered at quarterback and moved the chains with an 11-yard burst on 2nd-and-9. A holding call on Connor Smith looked like it might thwart the drive, but Henton connected with Devon Torrence for 9 and Brandon Smith for 11 to gain a first down at the Northwestern 25. The Bucks worked the ball down to the 19, but Mo Wells coughed it up and Reggie McPherson recovered for the ‘Cats at their own 13.
The Buckeye defense pushed the Wildcats back to the 9, and on fourth down Larry Grant came soaring in to block Demos’ punt, which Northwestern fell on at the 1. Given a reprieve, Mo Wells followed "Tank" Whaley and dove over for his second score of the day, making it 58-7. The score remained that way as the PAT snap was mishandled.
Bacher and Eric Peterman started to hum on the next series. The two hooked up for plays of 11 and 7 yards, and then for 28 on the ‘Cats best looking play of the day. From the Buckeye 32, Omar Conteh could only eke out a yard on first down, but lineman Keegan Grant, in a classic case of the second guy getting caught, was flagged 15 yards for a late shove on Brian Rolle as the third quarter came to a close.
Neither squad could ring up points in the final period. Nick Patterson’s first career interception on the opening play of the fourth stymied a Wildcat march, while the Buckeyes kept the ball landlocked for the most part to kill the clock. Northwestern’s final drive got down to the OSU 25, but the backups flexed a little muscle and the Bucks took over on downs. On the final two plays of the day, the scout teamers had a moment to shine as tailbacks K.C. Christian and Joe Gantz added their names to the stat sheet.
The Buckeyes remain at #8 in the AP poll, although they closed the gap between themselves and #7 Texas from 27 points to only three. The Scarlet and Gray moved up a spot in the coach’s poll to #8, benefiting from a two-notch drop by Wisconsin. OSU will head to the Twin Cities this Saturday for an 8PM primetime get-together with Minnesota on ESPN 2. Northwestern returns home to Ryan Field for a high noon meeting with the suddenly resurgent Michigan Wolverines. The last two times that TBGUN started the season 0-2, they won the Big Ten title- outright in 1988, and in a three-way tie with Ohio State and Wisconsin in 1998. The Buckeyes prevented the ’98 UM squad from winning the championship outright with a 31-16 pasting of the Wolves in Columbus.
RANDOM THOUGHTS- Stephen Simmons’ 99-yard kickoff return to open the second half was the second-longest ever against Ohio State, bettered only by a 100-yard runback by Minnesota’s Bobby Weber in 1977.... OSU’s Big Ten winning streak now stands at 15, two shy of the school record... Déjà vu? The only other time in history that the Bucks played Minnesota on the road following a home game against Northwestern was 1939, a year that saw OSU win an outright Big Ten championship and hold down the #10 spot in the season’s first AP poll... Saturday’s game was the 500th all-time in Ohio Stadium. Some other landmark games in the ‘Shoe-
#1- OSU 5, Ohio Wesleyan 0- October 7, 1922
#100- OSU 16, Purdue 14- October 18, 1941
#200- OSU 7, Wisconsin 7- October 25, 1958
#300- Missouri 22, OSU 21- September 25, 1976
#400- OSU 20, Louisville 19- September 5, 1992
(9)Ohio State 58 Northwestern 7
Click B50 Logo to return to Home Page
VS
September 22nd, 2007
Ohio Stadium
Columbus, OH
Attendance 105,178
9/19/07
View Northwestern Game Photos
